Bitcoin miners are massively scaling back capacity: the hash rate of public companies has plummeted by 21%
The public mining market is undergoing a tectonic shift. Over the past nine months, the realized hashrate of the group of listed bitcoin companies (excluding Bitdeer) has declined by 21.2%. This is not just a correction, but a systemic restructuring of business models.
The aggregate figure fell from 368.3 EH/s in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 319.0 EH/s in the second quarter of 2026. The key driver is the massive migration of capacity from BTC mining to infrastructure for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC).
The bitcoin network holds up more confidently
The network's total hashrate declined much more modestly. The average quarterly figure dropped from 1,071 EH/s in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 957 EH/s in the second quarter of 2026 — that is, by only 10.6%. The gap between the network's dynamics and those of public companies is explained by the actions of Bitdeer, which increased its hashrate by 44% — to 63 EH/s, offsetting the declines of other players.
Some companies wound down mining faster than others could ramp up capacity, which created a temporary imbalance.
AI is eating mining
Financial reports clearly demonstrate the reason. Core Scientific earned $136.7 million in the second quarter from colocation for AI workloads versus a paltry $27.5 million from bitcoin mining. TeraWulf received $31.9 million from HPC leasing (71% of all revenue), while mining brought in only $12.8 million.
For Riot Platforms, the transition is less pronounced: $23.2 million from data centers versus $113.7 million from mining. Bitdeer earned $14 million from cloud AI services and $197.1 million from traditional lines. Meanwhile, Hut 8 and MARA have so far recorded a minimal contribution from computing, while Cipher and Keel Infrastructure have not yet reported HPC revenue.
The current downturn is the effect of a weak mining economy amid fierce competition for capital and electricity from AI projects. For comparison: after China's mining ban in June 2021, the network hashrate briefly fell to 57.5 EH/s but recovered by December. The current situation is fundamentally different — this is not a regulatory shock, but a structural transformation of the industry.
Profitability adds additional pressure: in August 2026, miners' fee income fell to a decade low, making BTC mining increasingly unattractive without diversification.
My analysis: We are witnessing not capitulation, but evolution. Miners that are the first to pivot to AI infrastructure will gain a strategic advantage, but those who completely abandon bitcoin risk losing touch with the underlying asset that still provides a stable cash flow during periods of market volatility.